Palmtop Accessories (Cases, Totes, and other Gadgets)

Cases

There are lots of custom-made, or almost custom made, cases for Palmtops
on the market. As one example, Coach
has some great ones around (but remember,
if you have to ask how much they are, you probably can't afford them...)

For those of us who aren't quite that rich, there are many
alternatives that are less expensive and just as effective. The cases I
use are Tamrac 220's,
available at most camera stores for carrying pocket
cameras (and computer games as well). They run around $20 each; it's worth
shopping around for good prices. The Tamrac cases also have a smaller front
pocket that's handy for PCMCIA cards, (short) cables, adapters, and spare
batteries.

When picking a case for your Palmtop, be such to check the thickness of the
padding around the main part of the bag (the part that will actually hold
the Palmtop). The thicker the padding, the safer your Palmtop will be; the
only crack I've ever had in one of my Palmtops was when I dropped one on a
concrete sidewalk while it was out of the case -- and, like
Timex® watches,
Palmtops tend to take a lickin' and keep on tickin' (mine certainly has...).

Another consideration is how you'll be carrying your Palmtop. I usually
carry mine slung over my shoulder; the shoulder strap on the Tamrac cases is
good for that. They also come with belt loops, but if you wear sweaters all
the time like I do, wearing your Palmtop on your belt may eventually wear
holes in your sweaters (just like belt-case calculators did in the days
of 45's...)

If you use a little imagination, you can adapt just about any small case or
camera bag for use with your Palmtop and accessories. For example, I
recently bought a flash memory card on
eBay, and the seller was kind enough to send me a case which he had
lying around. I suspect the case was from a Franklin Planner or something
similar; in any event, it has three plastic pockets that are the perfect
size for PCMCIA cards and two elastic straps, one of which now holds my
HP AC adapter and the other of which now holds
the PC Card box containing my
EXP ThinFax modem/flash memory card. (And it probably has room for one
or two more PC Card boxes, too...)